Improvement in machines foe stepping willow



@uitrit taten gattini4 fitte' JAMES S'WAN, 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

Letters Patent No. 70,288, dated October 29, 1867. i

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR STRIPPING WILLOW.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES SWAN, of Paterson, in the county of' Passaic,and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and improved Machine forStripping Willow; and that the following description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to,forms a full and exact specification of the Same, wherein I have setforth the nature and principles of my said improvements, by which myinvention may be distinguished from all others of a similar class,togethenwith such parts as I claim an'l desire to have secured to me byLetters Patent.

VThis invention relates to a new and improved machine for strippingWillow of its bark preparatory to the `manufacture of the same intobaskets.

The invention consists of a rotaryrstripping device provided with bladesor strippers arranged, in connection with a spring or springs, in such amanner that the strippers will be made to bear or press upon the willowhy centrifugal force generatedby the rotation of the hollow mandrel towhich the stripping device is attached.

The invention also consists in a means for cleaning the strippingpdcviceor preventing the same from clogging, and Y l The invention finallyconsists in a clamp of peculiar construction for grasping the willow anddrawing it through the stripping device, as hereinafter fully shown anddescribed. In the accompanying sheet of drawings- Figure 'l is aplan ortop view of my invention. y

Figure l2, a transverse vertical section of the same, taken in the line:z: zt, fig. l.

Figure 3, ahorizontal section of the stripping device pertaining to thesame, taken in the line y y, tig. 2.

Figure Li, a side sectional view of a portion oi` the same, taken in theline s z, l.

Figure 5, a section of the stripping device4 taken in the line z 2, Eg.3.

Similar letters of reference indica-te like parts.

A represents a head, which may he constructed similar .to the head ofanl ordinary turning-lathe, and provided with a hollow mandrel, B, onthe inner end of which the stripping device C is secured. This strippingdevice is composed of a circular huh, o; having a recess, Z1, extendingentirely across it, in whiohthe strippers D D are tted and allowed toslide freely. These strippers are composed each oi' two parallel platesc e, connested at their outer ends hy a rivet or bolt, d, a suilicientspace being allowed between them Vto` admit of the plate cof onestripper fitting and sliding between the plates of the other stripper,and vice versa. (See g. Through the two plates of each stripper there ismade an opening, e, semicircular at one end, and V shape the other. (Seeiig. 5.) The V-shape end is essential, the opposite end may be ofsemicircular or other form, 'but the semicircular form would prohablyheas good, if not preferable to, other forms. The innermost stripper D hasthe extent of its inward movement limited by ledge or lange,f, at oneend of the recess b, against which the inner end of said stripper comesin contact when both strippers are fully inward, the inward movement of.I

the .other stripper being limited by its rivet or bolt i coming incontact with the outermost plate c of the stripper first named. Thestrippers are retained in the recess l5 by a plate, E, screwed to theend-or face of `huh a. F is an elastic hand which encompasses the huh a,and extends around the outer ends of the strippers D D, said handserving as a spring, and having a tendency to keep the strippers pressedinward. In the hollow mandrel B there is fitted a tube, Gr, around whicha spiral spring, e,vis fitted, one end of the latter bearing against theouter end of the maudrel'and the opposite end bearing against a disk,f,on the outer part of tube G. (See figs. l and 3.) The mandrel B hasthree pulleys, gg g, upon it, g being a fast pulley, and y y idle ones.H I are two shafts, euch of which has three pulleys, 7i it It, uponthem, the pulleys t being fast, and it lL idle ones. J is a belt whichworks around these pulleys, and a driving-pulley, K, underneath themachine, as shown in iig. 2. The shafts H I are connected bybevel-wheels z', with a shaft, L, on which a toothed wheel, M, isplaced, and around which an endless chain, N, passes, said chain alsopassing around a wheel, M', as shown clearly in tig. 4. To this endlesscha-inN a slide, O, is attached, which works or travels on ways P P, andto this slide O there are pivoted two levers Q Q, ,which act against twojaws R R, pivoted on the slide O, as shown atjj. The rear ends of thesejaws R It are encompassed by an elastic band,vS, which has a tendency tokeep the ends of the jaws which grasp the willow disteuded or spreadapart, these ends of the jaws ybeing provided with teeth k, as shownclearly-in fig. 3. T T are two uprights secured to the base of the'machine near the stripping device, and T' T' are two similar uprightssecured to the base, near the rear ends of the ways P P. These uprightsare placed at each side of the ways P, as shown clearly in iig. 1. Urepresents a slide-rod, which has its bearings in two of the uprights TT', at one side of the ways P P. This slide-rod is provided with aprojection, V, which extendsacross the path of the movement of the slideO, and one end of the slide-rod is connected to a belt-slipper, W, whichthrows or moves the belt J upon the idle pulleys of the mandrel andshafts at the termination of each movement` ofthe slide, the belt beingmoved upon the fast pulleys by hand, so as to give the reverse movementto the slide, so that the shafts H I may drive alternately the shaft L,and give a recipro-. eating movement to the slide O, the shafts H I,owing to the manner in which Athe belt J is larranged in relation withthem, rotating in reverse directions.

The willow to be stripped of its bark, if not green, has its barksoftened by steaming or soaking, and the willow rods, one at a time, arepassed through the mandrel B, and the end grasped by the jaws R R,which, if they have not reached the extent of their inward movementtowards the stripping device, are open, and kept open by the levers Q Q,which are in the position shown in tig. 3, but are closed when saidlevers strike the inner uprights T T, the spring. The mandrel B is notputin motion until after the rod has beenpassed through it, and when thejaws 'R R grasp the willow, the slide O moves back or outward, and drawsthe willow through' the stripping device, the strippersD D, owing tocentrifugal force generated by the rotation of the head or hub a,Causing the V-shaped ends of the openings to bear or press against thewillow rods, and strip the bark therefrom. As the slide O reaches thetermination of its outward movement, the levers Q Q strike the outeruprights T', and cause them to be moved in such a manner as to throwopen thejaws R R,.and release the willow, the

jaws remaining open until the slide O nearly reaches the extent of itsinward movement, when they are allowed to close under the inuence of thespring or elastic baud S to grasp a succeeding willow rod, and so ou. Incase the stripping device should become choked or clogged by thedetached bark, it may be readily cleaned by shoving forward the tube G,which will drive or force all the bark out from the openings in thestrippers D.

This machine performs the work for which it is designed in a thoroughand eiiicient manner, and with great rapidity.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patenti l. The stripping device, consisting of the rotatinghead or hub a, having the transverse groove b, strippers D D, eachcomposed of two parallel plates c c, having openings e, whose outeredges are Vshaped,-th`e plate of one stripper sliding between the platesof the other said plates, secured together at their outer ends by thepins cZ, and to the hub a by the cap E. The hub and strippers surroundedby the elastic band F, substantially as described for the purpose setforth.

2. The reciprocating slide O, provided with'the jaws R R and levers Q Q,the uprights T T T T', 4endless chain N, shafts L H I, connected bybevel-gear z', driving-belt J, xed and loose pulleys on the mandrel B,and shafts H I, all arranged and operating as and for the purposespeciiied 3. The slidingtube G,f1tted within the mandrel B, for guidingthe willow to the strippers, as herein shown and described.

JAMES SWAN'.y

Witnesses:

WM. F. McNAMARA, MICHAEL DooDY.

